Crossroads
by DirtWaterPrince
Summary: It is a dreadfully dark place, the crossroads of a tragic loss, when you decide whether you will despair, or destroy.....takes place afterThe Chase


This little thingamabob takes place after "The Chase." It's nothing spectacular, just a little more closure for my own benefit until the next episode comes out and we find out if Iroh survived. If you like it review, if you don't, then review, if you can't decide, send me a lengthy review describing your mixed feelings.

Disclaimer: IfAvatar: The Last Airbender was mine, I would be 2 adult men, which I am not, so therefore, I do not own Avatar.

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It is a terrifying place to be, trapped between vengeance and surrender. A terrifying, traumatic, tormenting, but most importantly, life-changing place that never ends wonderfully. It is hard to, when one chose leads to defeat, and the other leads to losing what you are for a pointless fury.

It is at this destructive crossroads that we find the infamous, notorious, and tragically-wounded man that is Zuko, who no longer holds a proud title. He is kneeling in a barren road, his head is bowed, he is defeated. Perhaps what is the worst thing about this scene is not the ghost town, the desert, a bleak landscape, or the dead man before whom he kneels, but the dry skin below he eyes.

He does not cry, not because he does not need to, or want to, but because he has forgotten what it is to grieve. He buried tears, and grief, and humanity deep inside himself with the memories of his mother, of his home, of his country, and of the shattered remains of his future.

Zuko will not move. Because if he moves, it will be to leave. To stand and move on, and leave his only family, his onlyfriend behind him, one milestone in his history of rocky roads.

It is at this time that he is visited by a pretty blue-eyed girl in traditional water-tribe clothes. She is cautious, having seen his fury only hours before. She has hid from sight for some time now, waiting to see if it would be safe to approach again. She stands several feet behind him, not daring to come forth, not daring to dread on this dangerous ground.

"Why did you stay? I told you to leave. Go. Your companions will be waiting."

Katara was not surprised that he had noticed her. She was not done yet though. She would not leave. Not without him.

"I'm not going anywhere. I can heal him Zuko. I can help. My waterbending affords me healing abilities. I can heal him!"

There is a painfully awkward pause before he answers. "It's too late. He's….." He swallows the lump in his throat and braces himself for what he must say, what he must hear before he stands again and walks away. He tries again, and succeeds. " He's dead. He's gone girl. You can't help him. You can't help at all."

Katara nods for a moment, then considers. "Perhaps he is not the one who needs healing."

Zuko whips around, glaring at her, a manic glint in his eye. "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP YOU FILTHY LITTLE PEASANT!I DON'T NEED ANYONE! I NEVER DID! NOT MY FATHER OR MY UNCLE OR MY SISTER OR MY COUNTRY OR MY PEOPLE OR MY SHIP OR MY CREW AND ESPECIALLY NOT THE LIKES OF YOU!" A tear flickered at the brim of her eye, but she brushed it roughly off with the back of her hand.

"There is nothing wrong with needing help! Who cares if you need it or not? The fact is it's there, and I can help, and whether you need it or not, my help will make things a whole hell of a lot easier for you, even if it isn't necessary!"

He pushed himself from the ground, prepared to march away to the left, in pursuit of his sister and his revenge, when from the corner of his eye, he sees his uncle, a dead man who's only goal was to protect him. Turning back, he gathered a mass of fire in his hand. Katara's eyes widened in terror and she took a step back. His hand came crashing down, blasting haphazardly into the ground.

Dirt and dust and rock flew into the air. When the dust settled, Katara saw a dead body, a deep hole in the ground and Zuko, kneeling in prayer. It could be best described as the strangest sight to fall upon human eyes. After a moment of whispered blessings, Zuko pushed himself from the ground, and clumsily hefted the great mass of his uncle across his broad, bloodied shoulders. Taking a step forward, Zuko leapt heavily into the pit. Katara watched from the edge of the hole as Zuko lay his uncle gently on the ground, and carefull arranged him into the resting position of a warrior.

Gripping the edge of the make-shift grave pit, Zuko hoasted himself a few feet out of the hole. Too late, he realized that his strength was too sapped by grief, stress, exhaustion and hunger and he felt himself falling back into the pit. It was by pure instinct, without a single scrap of logic that Katara found herself sprawled across the dirt, reaching her hand down into the pit, gripping the sturdy hand of the Once Prince.

Using her hand as leverage, Zuko pulled himself from the pit. His exhaustion finally setting in, Zuko pushed himself up and painstakingly began to refill the grave.

Lifting one particularly large stone, Zuko fell. It is not a pleasant feeling, when the world crushes down onto your shoulders, and suddenly Zuko found himself unable to get up again, having falled just one too many times. Two sturdy hands lift the rock of his own and lower them into the grave. Then, one of these hands is being offered to him, and his will to fight returns, and he pushes himself off the ground and leverages himself up on the steady support of her hand.

The grave, now full, sits behind them as the pair, Zuko wearily leaning on the steady shoulders of his new friend, turn neither left nor right, but make a path of their own toward a future of change, and possibly, hope.

Katara, in her turn, decides that it is not Prince Zuko who leans heavily on her shoulders, but simple Zuko, especially when he whispers a hoarse "thank you" in her ear and rediscovers hat corner of being human that is tears.

C'est Fin.

Thank you for reading this dreadfully pointless drabble.

Windbender


End file.
